Badminton champ Li chasing titles and world ranking points

2026-03-25 - 16:03

Shaunna Li is all about hard work and with that hard work, she’s seen plenty of success. Whether it’s on the badminton court, while running her own business, or studying at the University of Auckland, the 22-year-old operates at the highest of standards, morning, noon and night, seven days a week. “Everyone around you is supportive, but you still have to navigate it yourself,” says Li, who has established herself as one of the leading players in New Zealand. Li is currently ranked number one in singles, as well as being number one in mixed doubles with her playing partner Edward Lau. She’s a 14-time New Zealand champion across singles, doubles and mixed doubles and is also a three-time Oceania singles women’s champion, having won that title in 2023, 2025 and again earlier this year on the North Shore. On the world stage, despite being an amateur, she is currently ranked 109th in singles, while she and Lau are world ranked number 75 in the mixed doubles. It’s been a busy start to 2026 for Li, who has just returned from three weeks away, playing tournaments in Singapore and China. That trip came hot on the heels of her singles victory at this year’s Oceania Championships in the second week in February, with Li defeating Australian Tiffany Ho in the final. “With badminton the ranking points are linked to how many tournaments you play, so the more you play, obviously, the more points you can get. So, if I don’t even play 10 tournaments, I can’t get the maximum points, and it’s hard to play that many,” she says. “Being Oceania champion doesn’t get you a pass into the World Championships because you’re representing the region. It still comes down to the fact that you need to get those ranking points.” Although she hasn’t made the singles draw at a World Championships yet, Li and Lau did make the mixed doubles in Paris last year, where they lost to a Scottish partnership in the round of 64. They’ll be looking to appear again at this year’s event which is taking place in New Delhi in mid-August. History shows how tough a task it is, in a sport traditionally dominated by Asian countries. Li playing doubles for NZ at the Oceania champs in February this year on the North Shore, finishing second behind Australia. Photo: Paul Foxall The only Kiwis to medal at the World Championships were Daniel Shirley and Sara Runesten in the mixed doubles at the 2005 World Championships in Anaheim, California, where they picked up bronze. They followed that success up with silver at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne the next year, but an Olympic medal has so far been elusive for Aotearoa. In 1972, badminton was staged as a demonstration sport at the summer games in Munich, but it would take another 20 years before the sport would become an official event, at the 1992 games in Barcelona. Since then, it’s been part of every summer Olympics but New Zealand haven’t sent an athlete since Beijing in 2008. “It’s tough trying to qualify for the elite tournaments. It’s a real mission,” Li says. She has come a long way since giving badminton a go in a school holiday programme on the North Shore at the age of eight. Her parents Victor and Susan played the sport while growing up in China, and after arriving in New Zealand in the early 2000s they would play casually, which in turn led to their daughter taking an interest in the sport. Her potential was quickly noticed and before long she was playing representative badminton while basing herself out of the North Harbour Centre in Forrest Hill. That venue is still her home base, with 11 international-standard courts providing game time for social and competitive players of all ages from 6am to 11pm, seven days a week. Li attended Rangitoto High School and was part of their Auckland championship volleyball team, which also finished third at Nationals. She also captained their badminton team to an Auckland championship title. When she won the school’s Sportswoman of the Year award in 2021, she was already New Zealand’s top open women’s player, holding the singles, doubles and mixed doubles national titles. Li won the NZ singles championship title in July last year in Wellington. Photo: Paul Foxall In the same year, Li started her own dress rental business, “Dress for Less”, which she still operates out of the family home on the North Shore. Li knows that having to think about business strategy and problem solving for her company helps how she plays in badminton. There’s plenty to do for “Dress for Less” which has almost 9,000 followers on Instagram. As well as sourcing dresses, there’s bookings to deal with, dispatch, return, cleaning, and all the admin that goes along with being a sole trader. “When I started the business, dress hire wasn’t that common, although it’s more so these days. The business model is good for me at the moment, while I’m studying and playing badminton. It’s quite flexible,” she says. Li is currently in her last year at Auckland University, completing her Bachelor of Commerce and Statistics. She’s already completed two internships, most recently via EY. With those under her belt, alongside “Dress for Less”, Li is adding to her skills all the time. “This year’s Oceania title was different as it was during the internship period and everything was really busy. I was getting up at 6am, working full-time, getting to training at 6pm, training until 8pm and getting home at 9pm. It was tough.” For now, Li is back on the North Shore, playing and training at the North Harbour Centre. It’s a real community feeling there. “The sport is massive socially. So many people play doubles so you can get four on a court at once. I’ll be trying to book a court on the weekend and all of them are already booked.” When a champion athlete like Shaunna Li struggles to get a court booking, you know the sport is doing well.